This Land, Your Land

Land that can be seen from some of the "most popular overlooks" along the Blue Ridge Parkway is part of 1,488 acres in an easement acquired by the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, the conservation group announced Monday.

The easement, finalized September 4, will protect forested mountain views near Little Switzerland in McDowell County between Parkway Mileposts 325 and 329.5. The property also includes about 1.5 miles of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, the route followed by mountain militiamen during the American Revolution on their way to the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina.

The conservation agreement allows improvements to be made that will enable the public to hike the Overmountain Victory Trail segment. When opened, the route will connect with an OVT section on another property recently protected by CTNC, the 538-acre Rose Creek tract across the Parkway, opening about three miles of the OVT to public use.

The property also connects critical habitat in the Pisgah National Forest to the Blue Ridge Parkway and other protected areas. The site contains all or part of two state Significant Natural Heritage Areas, with mature native forests and more than seven miles of headwaters streams that provide clean drinking water for communities downstream and critical habitat to North Carolina’s declining trout population, the CTNC says.

The CTNC paid $3.67 million to CSX Corp. for the property, with money coming from several state, federal and private sources.